Charms: Severing

Professor Barahir had removed the desks from his classroom and replaced them with training dummies for that day's lesson. The severing charm was a basic lesson for first year students, it shouldn't be too difficult for this lot.

He stood at the front of the room as the children filed in and gave them instructions. "Choose a dummy and have your wand at the ready. Today, we will be learning the Severing Charm."

The incantation Diffindo and the wrist movement were scrawled on the chalkboard as he spoke. The motion looked like a lowercase "n" turned up on its back leg.


"It's simple enough, but it can be dangerous if you do not aim properly. I don't want anyone losing a limb today because someone wasn't being careful. You may begin whenever you feel you are ready."

((We are acting as though this is the second Charms lesson. Pretend lesson one was Wingardium Leviosa or something.))

After their first lesson, Arya had decided that Charms would be her least favorite class. Lumos and Nox were not exactly....exciting. But as she stepped into the classroom, her mind was changed immediately. The desks were gone, and in their place were dummies; always a good sign.

"Afternoon, Professor Barahir," she greeted, glad to have pronounced the name correctly.

Arry was the second person in the classroom. It was no surprise that Marigold had been the first; she went and stood by the unclaimed dummy next to her friend.

"How's things, Marigold?" she asked as her friend stood awkwardly. She squinted and read the board. "Wait, we can just start? Well, what are you waiting for?"

She muttered the incantation several times before she took out her wand and faced her dummy. "Diffindo." The tiniest of rips appeared in the stomach area of the dummy and Arry grinned.

Mitri stumbled into the room, feathers in hair. She wasn't quite sure how'd they had gotten there, as they hadn't been there last class. Unshaken, she entered the class and took a spot next to the infamous Kolby Perry. She didn't feel like talking with the girls, Arya made Mitri feel like a second-class Gryffindor and Marigold has previously cause her physical harm.

"I believe the objective of the lesson is to attack the dummy with magic, not brute force. How very muggle of you Kolby!" Mitri said jokingly, "Diffindo!" A small rip appeared in the dummy's abdomen.

"I was aiming for the heart, but the gut will do. Give it another go Parry!" Mitri said encouragingly.

Obviously Mitri was supposed to hate Kolby, but all she felt for him was slight animosity about the whole 'pumpkin juice' incident. Maybe not all Slytherins were total gits, and boys were easier to relate to than girls in Mitri's case. She didn't want to bear a man's children and cook him dinner, she wanted more out of life, unlike most girls.

There was something disturbing about seeing a Gryffindor and Slytherin chatting, or even in close proximity. No that Kolby seemed to be replying to the Gryffindor pest. Nadia pondered saving her fellow Slytherin but decided against it, Kolby seemed up to something. She didn't wish to be involved.

Traipsing to another dummy, Nadia sent the curse flying. Sadly, her aim was off, nearly hitting a Ravenclaw. Calling out a half-hearted apology for the Professor's sake, she furrowed her brows in concentration. This simple exercise would not best a Murray. It was a simple spell her father had used countless times, how, she would not reveal.

"Afternoon, Professor Barahir." Deirdre greeted as she entered the classroom. The others were already choosing dummies and attempting the spell on that had been scrawled on the chalkboard.

Deirdre chose a dummy near Arya and the others. She practiced the motion for a bit before pointing her wand at the dummy.

"Diffindo!" she exclaimed. A small tear opened up on the shoulder and she smiled. She was getting a bit better with her magic.

"G-good afternoon, Professor," Miriam managed to say with only a small stutter as she enterd the room. Professor Barahir was very intimidating. She knew he wasn't mean, but his presence intimidated her. It reminded her of the powerful men that would visit her father to borrow money or sell things.

Finding a dummy in a corner Miriam put her things down and carefully read the instructions on the board. After a minute to practice the motion without saying the spell, she turned nervously towards the dummy.

"Diffindo," she said quietly casting the spell. The tip of her want glowed a little bit but nothing else happened and she hung her head with a sigh. She may want to try again in a little while, but for now she looked over what the rest of the class was doing.

Adelaine sauntered into the Charms classroom and froze for a minute at the door. Everyone was already started; was she late? She couldn’t have been, the bell hadn’t tolled yet. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued in.

“Hello, Professor Barahir,” she nodded, then waved at her friends across the room.

She started toward them, then noticed a timid looking Hufflepuff girl in the corner and decided to take the dummy next to her. She dropped her things to the ground and took out her wand. They were learning the severing charm? The last thing the mortal world needed was for Kolby Parry to learn a severing charm. Speaking of the snake, why was Mitri with him?

“I sat next to you in Transfiguration, didn’t I?” Adele smiled and asked the Hufflepuff before turning to her dummy. “Diffindo.” The burlap ripped from his right shoulder to his left ribcage.

Miriam nodded, "Yes," she said quietly.

She watched Adelaine (she's pretty sure that's the Ravenclaw's name) cast the spell on her dummy and was surprised at how strong her spell was.

Taking heart from the success of the other girl, Miriam turned towards her dummy again, "Diffindo!" she said with a bit more force than before. This time a small tear opened in the belly of the dummy where her want had been pointing.

She felt a huge smile on her face as her spell actually worked, "I did it!" she said, some surprise evident in her voice.

Rose walked into the classroom, and a wave of confusion washed over her until she looked at the board and realized what the instructions were. Start on our own? That's different, she thought with a shrug. She took a dummy next to Deirdre, and smiled at her housemate.

"How are you today, Deirdre?" she greeted the girl, setting her bag down beside her.

Diffindo. She never knew how much fun spells would be to say. All these crazy words just got stuck in your brain. Rose actually had a dream about the word Riddikulus the other night. She drew her wand and concentrated on the dummy's chest.

"Diffindo.."

A vertical rip appeared from the belly button about an inch long. Not exactly where she was going for, but at least that was something.

The professor paced the front of the classroom, watching the students as they practiced. Those who had not had previous practice with the spell were doing rather well. They had all manged to at least tear the burlap of the dummies in front of them, except Kolby, who seemed a bit frustrated about it.

"Ms. Murray, I would instruct you to be a bit more cautious where you point your wand. I will be deducting four points from Slytherin for it and it had better not happen again." Barahir warned. "Furthermore, and this goes for the lot of you, you will not be permitted to practice this spell outside of this classroom. Especially if you intend to use it on a schoolmate. If I hear of anyone in this classroom using such a potentially dangerous spell on their fellows, I will not hesitate to punish you as I see fit. Is that understood?"

His hands clasped behind his back and he stood still, a gaze of stone set on his students. He was not in the best mood as it was. He didn't need any injured students on top of it.

Adelaine glanced up at the grumpy looking Charms professor. Barahir was intimidating, to say the least. Though he wasn’t scary like Renoir and Aitken. She flicked her wand at the dummy’s left cheek and another small tear appeared. Charms was by far her best subject, it seemed.

“Er, Professor?” she raised her hand timidly. “If we aren’t to practice, what will we do for homework?”

She blushed a deep crimson as it dawned on her just how Ravenclaw that must have sounded. But she meant it; Adelaine loved homework. It was just more of what she did in class, a chance to learn more magic. The only homework she despised was Herbology.

“Diffindo,” she muttered, slashing the dummy’s arm.

Arya suppressed a grin as Professor Barahir took away points from Nadia; sure, it was only 4, but every point counted. For all the grief the Slytherin had given Kolby about losing points, it was a nice change of pace.

"Why is she practically asking for homework?" Arya whispered frantically.

She could have kicked Adele. How stupidly Ravenclaw of her to question the professor about extra work. The more free time Arya had, the better as far as she was concerned. She flicked her wand again and another little nick appeared in the shoulder. With a sigh, she came to terms with the fact that she was simply no good at Charms.

Barahir gave the Ravenclaw girl a small smile. It was expected that the first to ask about homework would be a student from the House that prized intelligence over all other things.

"You may work on Lumos and Nox for homework. If you feel you have mastered it, you may move up to Lumos Maxima. Otherwise, there is no homework for today's lesson." He said.

He could tell some students were glad that the homework wasn't mandatory, just suggested.

Miriam was glad Professor Barahir wasn't making them practice "Diffindo" for homework. She didn't particularly mind that the Ravenclaw had asked about the homework, but she really didn't want to have to practice cutting something. The fact that this could be turned on a person was in the front of her mind, despite her joy at performing the spell correctly.

"I guess I'll be trying Lumos Maxima," she said to herself, having gotten Lumos and Nox down quickly. They were just the kind of small charms she was good at. She probably was so good at them because she'd had some control over her accidental magic as a child and had often called light to sneak into her father's study and read when she couldn't sleep at night. She hadn't really explored the Hogwarts Library yet, but she was eager to get some time in there for browsing and not just Potions essay writing.

Jace had grown tired of this lesson quickly as she'd practiced spells like this all the time. Since no one had ever been around in her house, except for servants of course, she usually went through the books her father gave her and attempted spells out of them.

This particular spell, she was good at. She'd always focused her hatred for her family into spells like this.

Jace stood in front of the dummy, with a sense of confidence that she didn't usually carry, and practically growled out "Diffindo." The rips that spread throughout the stomach of the dummy brought a proud smile to her face.

As she heard the Professor mention homework, her ears immediately perked up.

Lumos, Nox, and Lumos Maxima.

Even as Jace had practiced and gotten good at more aggressive spells, she'd never taken any time for small charms, so it looked like she was, after all, going to have homework tonight.

Adele nonchalantly made several more rips in the dummy's torso and arms. It made her a bit melancholy, really, tearing the poor thing up so badly. She looked around the room to see how everyone was doing. Arya had only succeeded in making several small cuts, and the Hufflepuff Adelaine stood by seemed to be on an emotional rollercoaster. Really, the only other person she noticed making as much progress as her was a Slytherin girl to her left.

"Well done," Adele commented with a small smile. "Done this before, have you?"

Adelaine turned back to her dummy and traced the rips with her wand. She always got a bit antsy when she was bored. With a flick, another tear appeared.

"Thanks. You aren't to bad yourself. Um, I have actually, I know we aren't supposed to but, well father insisted..." Jace said to the girl beside her, a Ravenclaw girl.

I suppose father doesn't have to know if I speak to kids that aren't in Slytherin every once in a while. Besides, he wouldn't mind to much as long as I'm not associating with mudbloods... Jace thought to herself as she glanced over at the girl's dummy beside her.

Jace looked around the class a bit more at the other students' dummies. It seemed that only the Ravenclaw girl and herself had made much real progress.

"Say, have you done this before as well?" She asked the Ravenclaw who'd spoken to her.

Adelaine smiled knowingly at the girl; she could spot a pureblood highborn from a mile away. They probably had quite a bit in common, then. 

"I've done it once or twice," she admitted, blushing. "There's only so much to do for fun in my house."

That was an understatement..or was it an overstatement? Basically, it was sarcasm, which Adelaine certainly had a knack for thanks to her father. Her parents were hardly ever home; if they were, they were in their studies or meeting with her potential suitors. She spent most of her time reading through the many spellbooks her father gifted her. Was it any wonder she turned out to be a Ravenclaw?
 
"My name is Adele, by the way," she told the girl, slashing at the dummy again. "Well, Adelaine Beaumont. And you are?"

"I know what you mean. I'm Jace, Jace Evangeline Chason." Jace said, smiling slightly at the girl knowing they had at least one thing in common.  

As she made a few more rips in her dummy, Jace thought more intently on being friends with people her father wouldn't approve of. It'd be alright as long as he didn't know, right?

I wonder if she's a pureblood as well? She wondered.

Adelaine wanted to lay down and sleep. It had been a long day, and she wanted to get this last class over with. She was so bored, in fact, that she began carving shapes into the ripped up dummy. So far, there was a heart on it's cheek, a tree on it's arm, and she was just starting on a many-petaled flower on it's stomach.

"Do you enjoy Slytherin?" she asked the girl, genuinely curious. "I had thought I'd be sorted there, both my parents are Slytherin to the bone."

She had almost slipped up and said "snake to the bone," but that more than likely would have been rather impolite and offensive. 

"I'm assuming you're quite highborn?" she asked, changing the subject. "I believe I've heard of House Chason. My father is Lord Petyr Beaumont."

"I see, so you're pureblood then?" Jace asked. Thank god, she thought,  secretly very happy that her father would approve. "Yes, I'm highborn. My father's Slytherin, he was very proud that I was sorted in his house." She said, smiling.

"Ehm, my mother was in Gryffindor, as was my Step-father. They belong to the Maxwell house. I've always taken after my father and I was very glad to not be sorted into my mother's house. Let's just say that my mother and I don't really get on too well." Jace said, looking over and admiring the shapes Adele had begun carving into her dummy.

This class is going very slowly, Jace thought, as she tried to carve shapes of her own. The rose she attempted to carve, well it didn't look like a rose very much. Jace's talents were not in art, that's for sure.

Deirdre looked to the side to see who had spoken to her. She smiled at her housemate.

"Quite fair, Rose. Thank you for asking." she said politely.

They didn't really talk for the rest of the class, just practiced the new spell. Deirdre glanced at Kolby a few times during the hour. She wanted to go over and apologize for what had happened in Potions that morning. Wanted to, but wouldn't dare, not knowing what Barahir might do if she walked away from the dummy before class was dismissed.

The class is getting close to being over. I'll wait a while and talk to him when I have a chance.

She looked her dummy up and down. It was now littered in tears, some small, some large. A few of them had cut deep, as well. It made her happy to see that she wasn't going to be incapable now.

((Sorry this took forever, I hadn't noticed I was spoken to earlier.))